CELEBRATING Labor Day – Burgers, Brats and Bolshevism

How’s about some commie ketchup on that burger? It’s extra red. A little Marxist mustard for your dog? What about a pinch of socialist sauerkraut on that bubbling bratwurst?

Didn’t you know? That’s why you get the day off on Monday. That’s what your Labor Day barbecue commemorates: socialism. Delicious, juicy, smoky socialism with a side of potato salad (German, of course) and a game of Cornhole (everyone’s a winner!) – frills made affordable to Americans, American businesses and big government waste-fraud-and-abuse mills by, well, capitalism.

I know, I’m a killjoy, and, call me a hypocrite, but I’m grilling out Monday anyway. Still, fellas, while you’re sweating over that sizzling Weber this three-day weekend, just be sure to tip a stein to old Karl, Vladimir and Josef. Without those genocidal schmendricks, you’d be stuck in your cubical Monday, just like every other day, playing Candy Crush and checking fantasy football.

Just yankin’ your chain. I’m sure you’re a hard worker, and, I mean, isn’t that really what Labor Day is all about? Hard work?

Actually, no. Not at all. Hard work has nothing to do with it. Labor Day is about “labor,” and “labor,” since the 19th century at least, has been, and yet remains, one of the primary “progressive” euphemisms exploited by leftists (aka, Democrats) to further the redistributionist goals of the global socialist movement.

Ah, Labor Day: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need!” “Workers of the world unite!”

And don’t forget to “look for the union label.”

No, I’m not being paranoid. The history of Labor Day is fascinating. And it really is rooted, 100 percent, in socialism.

In 1882 a couple of socialist cats named Matthew Maguire and Peter McGuire, both members of the Socialist Labor Party, proposed an official workers’ holiday in New York to be called “Labor Day”. Both men were also active in their respective labor unions, with Maguire belonging to the International Association of Machinists and Peter McGuire general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and co-founder of the American Federation of Labor. (Busy little pinkos, weren’t they?)

While historians differ over which man was principally responsible, our Marxist friends nonetheless had success, and on Sept. 5 of that very year, 1882, the United States saw its first official socialist Labor Day celebrated in New York City.

As the popularity of New York’s Labor Day gained momentum in urban centers across the U.S., President Grover Cleveland (yes, a Democrat) signed legislation in June of 1894 declaring Labor Day a national holiday to be held, like New York’s own, the first Monday of every September.

He was not re-elected.

Whereas the rest of the socialist world celebrates Labor Day on May 1 (May Day), America has always marched to the beat of a different drummer. And so we, a nation made both the greatest and wealthiest in all of history through the free-market principles of capitalism – heretofore reasonably regulated, but, alas, regulated to death under our current administration – give our little nod to Karl Marx on the last day of summer (appropriate, I think, as wherever there is socialism, the fall is not far behind).

Belong to a labor union? Bully for you. As Marxist.com, a popular pro-socialism website, observes: “Labor Day, also has a militant tradition and an origin within the U.S. labor movement itself. … The September holiday was conceived of and celebrated by socialists and militants within the labor movement, and we should remember and reclaim this history.”

And so, as we enjoy friends, family, food and fun this extended Labor Day weekend, let’s heed the advice of Marxist.com and remember that this particular holiday – this “workers’ paradise” for a day – was “conceived of and celebrated by socialists and militants within the labor movement.”

A socialist movement, mind you, that thrives from within the freest nation on earth (for now at least) – a nation made great, in large part, by the very capitalism unions, and the Democrats they fund, so hate, and desperately seek to destroy.

About the author: Matt Barber

Matt Barber is founder and editor-in-chief of BarbWire.com and an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. In addition to his law degree, Matt holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from Regent University. Matt is both an author and a popular columnist. He’s known for a unique writing style (an entertaining blend of thoughtful analysis and Swiftian satire, delivered with a rapier wit). Many newspapers and online publications run Matt’s columns, to include WND, TheBlaze, the Washington Times, TownHall and many more. Author of the book, “The Right Hook: From the Ring to the Culture War,” Matt is currently penning his first novel. In addition to frequent public speaking engagements, Matt has appeared as a cultural analyst on the Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN and is a regular guest on dozens of talk radio programs and networks including Michael Savage, the G. Gordon Liddy Show, Dennis Prager, the Michael Medved Show, the Janet Mefferd Show and others. Matt also co-hosts “Faith and Freedom” a daily legal and cultural issues talk radio program heard on about 90 stations across the country.
Matt served twelve years in the Army National Guard, was a law enforcement officer for three years and a corporate fraud investigator for five years.
Setting him apart from others in his various fields, Matt was an undefeated heavyweight professional boxer retiring in 2004. Prior to turning pro, he was a several time state and regional Golden Gloves champion, competing in the 1992 Western Olympic Trials and winning a Gold Medal in the 1993 Police and Fire World Games.